It wasn't an article as opposed to a quick comment. It really has nothing to do specifically with college football as opposed to advertising in general. Given that nobody knows what is going to happen in the next month, much less 6 months, and the economic shot that many companies are taking, all these folks are doing is hedging their bets and cutting discretionary spending. If college football is played in 2020, there will be plenty of advertising although there certainly will be less money flowing through to the colleges in 2020. Until a vaccine is widely available, business is not going to be back to "normal" and it will take 12-18 months for the economy to remotely get back to "normal." There will be a whole chunk of people who will not got back to the jobs they had.
From the WSJ:
"Good morning. Advertisers including GM, PepsiCo, General Mills, Domino’s Pizza and Sanofi are seeking to walk back spending commitments they made to TV networks.
Under their upfront deals with networks, advertisers’ first real chance since the pandemic struck to cut back future spending commitments began May 1. Companies now have the option to cancel up to 50% of their third-quarter ad spending.
Ad buyers estimate that roughly $1 billion to $1.5 billion in commitments for third-quarter ad spending could be canceled, the Journal’s Suzanne Vranica reports. “The cuts are going to be pretty deep,” said Dave Campanelli, chief investment officer at Horizon Media. "